15
Please Your Neighbors, Not Yourselves
1 Now we who are strong ought to bear with the weaknesses of those who are without strength; we ought not to please ourselves.
2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
3 For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached yoʋ fell on me.”
4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
5 Now may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to have the same mind toward one another, following the example of Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one accord and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Receive One Another
7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ has received you, to the glory of God.
8 Now I say that Christ Jesus has become a servant to the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order to confirm the promises that were made to the fathers,
9 so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will confess yoʋ among the Gentiles;
I will sing praise to yoʋr name.”
10 And again it says,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and extol him, all you peoples.”
12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will appear,
he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles will hope.”
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul's Ministry to the Gentiles
14 I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish others.
15 But I have written to you rather boldly in part, brothers, by way of reminder, because of the grace that was given to me by God
16 to be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17 Therefore I have a reason for boasting in Christ Jesus in my service to God.
18 For I will not dare to speak of anything other than what Christ has accomplished through me to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
19 by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
20 And in this way I aspire to preach the gospel where the name of Christ has not been heard, so that I do not build upon another's foundation,
21 but as it is written,
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”
Paul's Plan to Visit Rome
22 That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
23 But now, since I no longer have a place in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you,
24 I will come to you when I go to Spain. For I hope to see you when I pass through, and to have you send me on my way there, once I have first enjoyed your company for a while.
25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints.
26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
27 They were pleased to do so, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in the spiritual blessings of the Jews, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.
28 So when I have finished this task and have sealed to them this fruit, I will set out for Spain and visit you on the way.
29 And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
30 Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.
31 Pray that I may be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to believe and that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and be refreshed together with you.
33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.